Linked ammunition is commonly used in machine guns where ammunition is chain fed into the weapon, de-linked and fired. However, rimmed ammunition, where the bottom rim extends beyond the circumference of the cartridge jacket, has notoriously been difficult to link, and there is no effective structure that links these rimmed cartridges in a push-through feeding system. In linked ammunition systems, the linkages typically rely on adjacent ammunition cartridges to hold the links together.
The present invention is a linking system that links flare rimmed cartridges together and allows them to be de-linked in a push-through manner, which is to say that each cartridge is contained in a discrete, individual link and pushed through that link as the cartridge is chambered. As the cartridge is pushed through the link, the link is disconnected from the next link in the chain and discarded. Links utilized in this linking system may utilize at least one, or more, arms that partially wrap around adjacent ammunition cartridges in order to secure the links in a chain.
The present invention represents a departure from the prior art in that the linkage system of the present invention allows for ammunition to be pushed through and out of the individual links of the system. An improved firearm is also provided to remove and chamber ammunition.